Kremlin's fake news on Iryna Zemlyana shared by "independent" Russian media and several Ukrainian outlets

The Russian media outlet "Mediazona" posted a news piece about the arrest warrant for the IMI expert Iryna Zemlyana, endorsing the Kremlin's false allegations that she splashed the Russian ambassador in Warsaw with beetroot juice in 2022. Several Ukrainian media reposted this information without taking a comment from experts.

The Russian media outlet not only did not question the Kremlin's allegations, but even put them in the headline.

"Moscow court arrests in absentia the Ukrainian woman who splashed Russia's ambassador in Poland with beetroot juice". A screenshot of Mediazona's news on Iryna Zemlyana, taken by the IMI.

Iryna Zemlyana has repeatedly publicly denied splashing the Russian ambassador, saying that the incident was not her fault even though she did participate in the May 9, 2022 rally in Warsaw. This is also evidenced by the numerous photos and videos of the incident that are available online.

"I have repeatedly publicly stated that I was splashing myself with beetroot juice in front of him. This is also evidenced by Polish court, which ruled that I was not guilty. Russia is pressuring me because I am the only person they could identify who was there," Iryna said in a comment to the IMI.

The news about Iryna Zemlyana with a misleading headline was picked up by other Russian "independent" media such as "Meduza".

Later, the same news spread in the Ukrainian media space, the "Mediazona" news was reposted by the Ukrainian Radio Liberty service, Ukrinform, "Espreso", "Telegraf", "Glavkom", "Gordon", "Halytskyi Korespondent" and many others. No outlet reached out to Zemlyana for a comment.

Ukrainian media sharing the Kremlin's fake news.

"This situation goes to show that information from Russian sources should be verified even if they are so-called good Russians. As a media expert, I was personally very upset that the Ukrainian media yet again treated their sources uncritically and spread Russian fake news. As a result, they relayed the Kremlin's false accusations against me and the Russian lie that I doused the Russian ambassador in Poland with beetroot juice. I didn't do it! Unfortunately, no one contacted me for a comment. All news exclusively cite the Russian sources, the so-called good Russian sources, which, as we know, do not exist," Zemlyana told the IMI.

Ukrainian media sharing the Kremlin's fake news. Screenshot by the IMI.

On March 10, the Russian media outlet "Mediazona" reported that on March 4, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested Iryna Zemlyana in absentia for attacking a person who enjoys international protection with the aim of provoking war (Part 2 of Article 360 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The media outlet noted that Iryna's patronymic was listed neither in the wanted person card, the Rosfinmonitoring record, nor in the court judgement. The wanted person card includes her photo from the Warsaw rally.

Background

In February 2024, Iryna Zemlyana, an expert at the Institute of Mass Information, was added to the list of "terrorists and extremists" maintained by the Russian Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring).

In November 2022, Russia declared Iryna Zemlyana a wanted person, opening a criminal case against her for allegedly attacking the Russian ambassador Sergey Andreev in Warsaw (Poland). Iryna notes that she did not commit the attack.

A group of protesters doused the ambassador with a red liquid as he was trying to lay flowers at the Mausoleum of Soviet Soldiers on May 9, 2022. Many protesters had red paint stains on their clothes to symbolize blood. They chanted such slogans as "fascists", "ruscists" and "murderers".

Iryna Zemlyana, who participated in the campaign, was forced to leave Warsaw due to death threats. According to her, hours after the incident, all her data, including her passport number, phone number, her Ukrainian address, email, and all social media accounts were leaked on Russian Telegram channels with a call to "exterminate" her. Zemlyana was added to the Russian "war criminals" database.

Poland investigated death threats to Iryna Zemlyana by Russians and others. In June 2023, Polish prosecutors froze the investigation into the Russian ambassador in Warsaw, Sergey Andreev, being doused with paint on May 9, 2022.

The National Police of Ukraine opened a case following Zemlyana's statement after the incident with the Russian ambassador in Warsaw. Later, the Shevchenkiv District Police Department in Kyiv closed the criminal case over death and doxxing threats to the IMI expert Iryna Zemlyana. However, the court ordered to resume the investigation.

Interpol has not yet decided whether to declare her an international wanted person at Russia's request or not.